People's Park: Chancellor Dirks Will Remember It For You, Wholesale

/// Don't assume it's too late to email the communications director of capital projects: cshaff [at] berkeley.edu
Email concerns about the loss of trees in People's Park. ///


There is a conflict of interest when the company that gets the contract to determine the health of the trees in People's Park also gets the contract to remove the trees deemed to be unhealthy. No second opinion has been sought by the UC; the administration didn't even have their own arborists produce a report on the health of the trees. HortScience's report does not include pictures of tree damage or disease to back up their claims that 77 trees are in such poor condition they must be removed. HortScience counts 155 trees in total (including smaller trees maintained to stay small); they want to leave only 78 standing.

Previous tree work in People's Park has been done by UC's own crew. Tree pruning and the removal of trees happens every year, by the UC's crew. Every year there is a tree or two severely storm damaged or ligimately struggling with disease. This is the first time an assesment has been made that dozens of trees need to be removed. There is always some amount of controversy, but this work order is different due to the scope of the tree removal and also because of to the hiring of an outside contractor. HortScience is a contractor for golf courses, including the BlackHawk Country Club (Danville, CA) and the Presidio Golf Course (San Francisco, CA). HortScience has no previous experience in People's Park, and has not reached out to community members.

At the start of 2014, Robert Lelanne, of the Lelanne Real-estate Group, became UC Berkeley's vice chancellor of real-estate. During his initial statements to press, Lelanne said he had worked with members of the Berkeley community to discuss future development plans for People's Park; however these statements were untrue. Lelanne never reached out to anyone who had any background in volunteer work at People's Park. Lelanne didn't reach out to residents in the Park neighborhood. Lelanne did not even reach out to the ASUC (student government) or to SERC (the environmental resource student group on campus). Over a year has passed since Lalanne started as vice chancellor of real-estate, and still the public has been kept out of any discussions regarding People's Park.

The UC is not showing commitment to the Park's future by having it placed under the department of real-estate. There is a growing desire amongst the public for People's Park to be placed under the College of Natural Resources, so it could get funding for agricultural programs. People's Park could be park of the Berkeley Food Project, ran by Natural Resources. The UC does not recognize the potential for People's Park as a urban farm; the UC views the park blankly as a piece of real-estate. There are those in the public who would actually prefer that People's Park be taken away from the UC, and become a city Park. City government has its faults, but it at least has a process for public input. Willard Park is a city park which is maintained through public process. Ohlone Park is a city park which has a public process for community gardening. People's Park could be another city park overseen by community organizing and city funding.

Taking out trees in People's Park will be the third major tree removal project on UC Berkeley property in the past year – not counting continuous tree removal in the hills in the area by the lab. A grove of redwoods was cut down on the north east end of campus last year. UC Berkeley put out a statement claiming the trees were sick. The UC mislead the public about the health of the redwoods; the trees were healthy. The UC also mislead the public about the age of the trees, claiming they were younger than they were. This year, a little under 60 trees of various species were cut down at the area of the Gill Tract. The UC understated the age of the trees and claimed the trees were all diseased. Now the UC is claiming that dozens of trees in People's Park are diseased, when no previous assessment suggested as such.

Today, Monday the 23rd, no trees were damaged. The rain may have kept workers away, or the tree cutting may not have been scheduled for today at all. There is no rain predicted for the remainder of the week. All that is known is the UC will move in on People's Park early in the morning at 6AM on what ever day they show up. Both the Berkeley police and UC Berkeley police are expected to clear out People's Park for the arborists.

The stage is also rumored to be removed at a time when community members are actually raising money to renovate it. There has been talk about the UC making a new stage, one which they own and control. The current stage was made and maintained by community members. The stage has been an object of contention for the UC; since it was built by the community, people have been able to paint political slogans on it. If the UC made their own stage, then it would claim painting anything on it would be vandalism. The current stage is a platform for free speech, and the UC wants to take it down. Their has also been talk that the stage will be removed but not replaced, because the UC is considering putting a cafe in People's Park, and the UC needs space available placement of a building.

People are encouraged to spend time in People's Park to form resistance. Don't assume it's too late to save the trees. And even if the trees cannot be saved through direct protest, then there will be a call for gardeners to replant trees and other vegetation in People's Park. If trees are cut down in People's Park, there will be a call for an environmental strike: a stoppage of work and school so people can spend time doing environmental and agricultural projects.

Everyday at 6AM this week, people are needed in People's Park. This year is the People's Park's 46th anniversary. The UC is afraid of People's Park making it to its 50th anniversary year.